Chapter Text
The sun shone brightly on the beautiful blue sea. Light waves washed ashore after the terrible storm that raged all night. The entire coast was littered with the remains of a ship that had calmly crossed the sea surface just yesterday.
The man was lying on the sand, soaked and with his clothes torn in some places. He was unconscious but breathing. His chest rose and fell peacefully, and his lips trembled slightly from the cold.
There was a woman next to him. She removed the clinging algae from his face, which caused the man to open his eyes slightly.
He saw a young woman with pink hair. Her blue eyes looked at him with surprise and some kind of apprehension.
Their eye contact won't last long because the woman turned her head and seeing something that scared her, hurried away.
The man could only mumble indistinctly in an attempt to stop her, but he couldn't.
Through the unpleasant noise in the ears, he suddenly heard a familiar voice and a dog barking.
"Your Highness! Is that you?"
Yeah. That's right, it was his advisor Sazh.
The man felt a wet, rough tongue lick his cheek, and hands grabbed him from behind, lifting him from the wet sand.
"Prince Hope! I'm so glad you're okay!"
Several guards and his adviser helped Hope get up and recover a little.
They said something about a terrible storm that hit his ship and that they couldn't find him for a long time. Fortunately, most of the team that was part of him at that moment did not suffer much, as did his faithful dog friend Alexander. The dog was happily running around the owner demanding the long-awaited affection
But the young prince was tormented by one question, which he immediately hurried to ask Sazh.
"Sazh, have you seen a woman here? I saw her when I woke up..."
After looking around the beach and seeing no one, Hope looked questioningly at the people next to him.
"Your Highness, no way. When we arrived, there was no one here but you."
One of the guards shook his head in puzzlement, suggesting that it would be better to head back to the castle.
Hope was about to follow the guards, but when he heard Alexander barking, he turned to the sea surface.
There, not far from the shore, the same woman was half in the water. She was peeking out from behind a small rock and recoiled when she saw his gaze. Before Hope could say a word, the pink-haired stranger dived into the water and disappeared, and the last thing he saw was a blue tail that sparkled in the sun.
The prince opened his mouth in surprise, looking at that place.
Was it a mermaid?
_________
With a loud sigh, Lightning sank onto her bed made from the empty shell of a large clam. She covered her eyes with her hand and yawned.
Her so-called "rescue mission" had been successful and the man was safe now.
Just think about it. She saved a man.
If anyone finds out about this, it will be a big scandal.
Humans have long been known as the worst enemies of mermaids. They were catching them. They used it as decorations for their house or worse.
Actually, Lightning would not have saved that man from the storm, but her sister tearfully begged her. That's why the older sister couldn't refuse the younger one.
Speaking of her younger sister. Serah was not at home at the moment.
Lightning could usually tell where and what her sister was doing right away.
When she came home, the girl turned on her favorite device.
This thing can play different music by pressing buttons, which Serah loved so much.
Many of the things that the mermaids used were borrowed from humans, and some were created with the help of the Fal'cie, the Gods that the mermaids worshipped.
The pink-haired mermaid rolled over onto her stomach, gazing thoughtfully at the wall.
Perhaps her sister was with her fiance Snow because it was to him that Lightning sent Serah when they missed each other.
Lightning dragged the man through the fragments of a huge ship and a stormy sea to a castle standing on the shore.
After making sure that the man was found and taken away, the mermaid went back home.
Her thoughts were interrupted by an insistent knock on the door.
Behind her, Lightning saw two burly male mermaids, who looked like they were from the Sanctum.
"Miss Farron?" Lightning nodded, and the man furrowed his brows seriously. "Please follow us. The Primarch wants to see you."
Judging by their appearance, Lightning didn't really have a choice, so she nodded once more and headed towards Edenhall, accompanied by guards.
Edenhall was located in the very center of their city and served as the home of their Primarch Galent Dysley, who led all the mermaids and was adored by them.
Although Lightning couldn't help but notice that his personality was quite dark. She didn't know what could make her think of him that way, but the very thought that the Primarch wanted to see her for something already made goosebumps run through her body.
Galent Dysley did not appear in public much, but only rarely, and then often only to explain to the people the will of the Fal'cie. They provided them with sustenance and favorable living conditions. One of the Fal'cie was also powerful on the surface.
The primarch was approaching them and therefore was chosen as the leader.
Of course, he had been a wizened old man for a long time, but he still radiated some kind of unpleasant aura.
She was escorted to the throne room.
The guards left after closing the door, leaving Lightning alone in the middle of the dark room.
It always seemed to her that the triple halls should, on the contrary, shine showing all their greatness and not look like a cave.
But apparently the Primarch didn't really like the light.
The atmosphere was tense and the woman flinched slightly when the voice rang out.
Lightning turned her head around, but because of the darkness, she could make out the silhouette of the Primarch not far from her.
"The weather on the surface is wonderful today, isn't it? Much better than yesterday's storm."
Lightning shrugged her shoulders and muttered softly,
"Yeah, the weather is great." She completely did not understand the meaning of their conversation and she was uncomfortable with the atmosphere in the throne room.
The silhouette of the Primarch moves.
"Did you know that a human ship crashed in that storm near our settlement, Miss Farron? Although of course you know what I'm asking. Yesterday, you and your sister were returning home and came across a shipwreck."
Lightning swallowed nervously and recoiled slightly.
How could he know?
She didn't see anyone nearby, and it was already quite late at night. No one should have been there.
The Primarch's voice was cold and slightly threatening.
"I see you already know what I'm talking about, don't you? I'm going to ask Miss Farron just once...Why did you save that man?"
"Wh-what? I-I don't understand what you're talking about, sir..."
Lightning felt something grab the lower part of her tail and pull her forward sharply.
Before she knew it, a tentacle wrapped around her entire body and the Primarch approached her face.
His octopus tentacles, which were usually hidden by his cape, were now open. They loomed over the woman menacingly, threatening to wrap themselves around her even more and strangle her.
"If you don't know anything about it, should I ask your sister?"
Lightning's eyes flew open. She couldn't let him do anything to Serah. The pink-haired mermaid punched the tentacle, trying to loosen her grip, but all she achieved was that she was abruptly lifted up, squeezing her stomach even more, causing Lightning to give a strangled cry.
"I see you have quite a glib personality, Miss Farron. No wonder you seemed like a worthy candidate to me." The Primarch chuckled. "How about making a deal?"
_________
The prince was walking along the beach. Alexander, a shaggy white dog, ran happily next to him.
The evening sky turned pink and the setting sun shone on the calm surface of the water.
Hope's mother always told him bedtime stories about mermaids, but he always thought they were fiction until that day.
Then he saw her here on the shore. A real mermaid.
This image of a beautiful woman with pink hair was forever imprinted in his head, becoming an image in hundreds of paintings that the prince managed to draw.
Hope came to this very place expecting that someday he would see that mermaid again and be able to thank her for his rescue.
The barking of the dog snatched the prince out of his dreams.
Alexander ran to a cluster of waves at the water's edge, stopping along the way and looking back at the owner as if calling him to follow him.
Hope got a little nervous and picked up his pace when the dog disappeared behind a large rock. From there, only joyful whining and the sound of paws stomping on the wet sand could be heard.
Finally, having overcome the last jerk, the man turned around a stone and stopped dead in his tracks.
Then, seeing a shock of tousled pink hair, Hope thought that he could go right now and jump off the highest mountain directly into the sea and come out completely in one piece, because heaven was clearly on his side.
There, at the water's edge, on the wet sand, sat the one Hope couldn't stop thinking about.
The pink-haired mermaid.
She frowned with displeasure and tried to break away from the joyful dog who was climbing up to the woman's face trying to lick it.
Only now there was something different about her.
After carefully examining her, Hope chuckled in surprise, noticing that where there was a blue sparkling tail, there were ordinary human legs.
Turning at the sound, the woman finally turned her attention to the prince. She met his eyes, looking at him curiously, and only then did Hope awkwardly look away, reaching for the buttons on his shirt with his fingers.
The woman in front of him was completely naked and didn't seem to understand what was wrong with that.
With a sudden movement, the man draped the shirt over her shoulders and quickly buttoned the buttons.
Only then could Hope look calmly into the mermaid's blue eyes.
"It's you, isn't it?" It was the most obvious question, but it was necessary for him to hear the answer, and when the woman nodded affirmatively, Hope smiled happily, taking her hands in his and squeezing them slightly.
"I-I'm so glad...Thank you for saving me then, I'm very grateful to you. But....Where's your tail?"
The former mermaid just shrugged vaguely, lowering her gaze.
Hope noticed that this topic was not pleasant for her, so he decided to hold a topic.
"Okay, let's discuss this topic another time, yeah? Tell me, what's your name?"
The woman looked around, slightly lost in thought. She dipped her finger into the sand and traced a pattern on it.
A cloud from which lightning strikes.
"Uh, Cloud?" The woman shook her head negatively, pointing her finger at the lightning bolt. "Thunder?" Not again. The woman rolled her eyes, circling the drawing with her finger again. "Then... oh, oh, I get it. Lightning?"
She finally nodded, pointing at him with her finger, tilting her head questioningly. Hope realized that she was asking for his name.
"Oh, my name is Hope, nice to meet you."
Lightning nodded once more and tried to get up, but she slipped and almost fell if Hope hadn't caught her, hugging her to him.
"Can I help you?"
Lightning shook her head, displeased, opening his hands from her. She tried to walk again, but it was just as unsuccessful and she fell to the ground again.
Hope just sighed heavily at her stubbornness, kneeling down in front of her.
"You know, sometimes asking for help doesn't mean you seem weak. Let's try it together?"
Snorting with displeasure, the woman paused for a moment, thinking, but eventually held out her hand, averting her gaze to the side.
Hope helped her up. Together they practiced walking until it was completely dark outside. Lightning was pretty good at it, even though it was her first time.
In the end, the woman plopped down on a rock, stretching her legs tiredly. Hope sat next to them, stroking Alexander's fur, who had been watching them curiously all this time.
"Well done, Light! You did a great job." Lightning looked at him in surprise, and Hope realized what he had called her. He smiled, thinking it sounded good. "Can I call you that? I think it suits you."
Lightning shrugged, looking away.
Hope stared at the star-studded sky until he felt a weight on his shoulder.
Lightning was breathing softly, leaning on him. It must have been a difficult day for her.
Hope stood up, lifting the sleeping woman in his arms. He hugged her tightly and waved his head at the dog, calling him home.
Heading to the castle, the man thought about it. Why does he want to help this mermaid so much? Was it just a sense of duty to her, or did he just like her?
Both are possible.